Guardian Angel
by AILOVE-withcake
Summary: There never was much importance in my life; it just went day in and day out. I led a boring life actually, just doing my work and getting the grades. Lucas was okay with it and he didn't bother me and I didn't bother him. And everything worked out just fine. It was there that I met him. First Person AU
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

There never was much importance in my life; it just went day in and day out. I led a boring life actually, just doing my work and getting the grades. Lucas was okay with it and he didn't bother me and I didn't bother him. And everything worked out just fine.

Just down the street from the park near my house there was a small Chinese restaurant. I used to sit on the swings and just watch it get built. I never did go in, even after it was built. I would only stare at it and watch the people eats the food that I never had any interest in anything.

At least not until Lucas took me to eat there on my sixteenth birthday.

It was there that I met him.

* * *

The restaurant was a busy one for being newly opened. It was originally called White Lotus, but it might have been changed to something else years after. The inside was small and neat, filled with red streamers and oriental lamps that I remember seeing on Chinese New Year's with cozy green chairs and brown wooden tables that all had a different picture under the glass. And the smell always smelled like fresh food and there was always the clatter of Mandarin Chinese.

Being June, there was a large fan in the corner of the room blowing in different directions. Lucas and I slid into the restaurant and stood there awkwardly until a man with blonde hair and the biggest eyebrows I had ever seen showed up. "Hello, table for two?" He said in a distinctive British accent. Lucas nodded and he led us to a booth in the corner near the table. In the months to come I would always sit here in this same corner, eating the same food.

The blonde man walked off and went behind the counter again and called out from in the kitchen. "Leon, table for two at table number five." A muffled reply shuffled through the noise and a teen about my age walked over to where we were sitting and pulled out a small notepad that had a cute panda bear on it. He stood about half a head taller than me with chestnut brown hair and a matching set of brown eyes and a surprisingly stoic face. He was Asian, but not seemingly full Asian. Maybe he was related to that British guy we just talked too. "Hi, I'm Xiang Wang-Kirkland but feel free to call me whatever. What would you like to drink?" Xiang said in a very bored sounding voice. So at least I wasn't the only one that wasn't here by will.

Lucas looked at Xiang and answered. "Water, he'll have coke." Guess that settles what I was going to have for a drink. Xiang clicked his pen and started writing the order and walked off without saying a word. As I was watching him walk to the kitchen a thought struck me, why was his name Xiang if he's called Leon?

"What are you thinking about Emil?" Lucas' voice trilled over my thoughts, interrupting my thought pattern.

"Oh nothing really, just about that math test I just took." Lucas rose and eyebrow in disbelief. I sighed and pulled out the paper from my bag. "See, 100%. Just like you wanted," Lucas nodded and set the paper back on the table.

"Not bad, that's the third one in a row?" He asked, trying to be casual. I knew that he was just trying to be friendly or something, but it wasn't working. Ever since I was in the fourth grade he's wanted me to have the best grades in the class. Grumbling silently to myself; I took the paper and shoved it unceremoniously into my bag as Xiang/Leon came back with our drinks.

"Would you like a few more minutes before taking your order?" He said in the same boring voice. Gosh it was getting annoying listening to him. I nodded and opened the menu in an irritated way, knocking over my drink. Xiang/Leon chuckled as if he was mocking me. "Hey now, that drink didn't do anything to you." Feeling my face grow warm, I took mine and Lucas' napkin and started patting at the wet spot feeling Lucas' stare on my ear.

"S-Sorry," I mumbled trying to whip up the mess. Just as I was patting down the soda, hands that were not Lucas' placed on mine moving them aside.

"Its fine, I got it." He mumbled with a bemused look now riddling his face as he took out a rag and started soaking up the sopping mess. He cleared the mess soon and just put the rag on a dirty plate on the next table and pulled out his little notebook again. "Would you like to order?" When I looked again at him, his face had turned back to stone.

"Um, pork lou mein, Emil?" Lucas looked at me and I shuffled with the menu again. The words might as well be in Korean because none of it made since.

"W-What would you recommend?" I asked under my breath with embarrassment. Xiang/Leon bent over and looked over my shoulder. After skimming he page he reached out and pointed.

"I would suggest the Bang Bang Ji. Chicken breasts are cut into small slices and served on a sheet of green bean paste; it also is made with hot chili oil." I nodded, not really understanding what he was saying; not really caring either.

"I guess that then." I said briskly and shut the menu in his face. Xiang/Leon (I really need to just pick a name) smirked and took the menus after writing our orders down and walked off. Lucas snorted from beside me. I turned to see him almost grinning at me.

"What?" Lucas shook his head.

"Nothing, happy birthday Emil."

And I guess this is where everything started.

* * *

**Anyway, this is just a first person IcelandxHong Kong.**

**I wasn't originally going to post this until I finished but I just figured that I'd post it and see what you guys thought about it.**

**Please review and like and give me your opinions, that would be most liked.**


	2. Chapter 2

I managed to surprise myself, a rare thing to happen, by finding myself standing outside the White Lotus just a few days later. Nothing really had happened, only the crowd had died down a little and everyone who was there was sitting in the same seats as last time and talking about stuff that didn't matter.

Over the music and the fan, a small woman's voice piped over the noise. "Welcome aru, please sit yourself and someone will be with you soon." The woman that spoke was very pretty with long brown hair and the same brown eyes as Xiang the waiter. I slipped past her and the small group of adults and seated myself in the same corner by the window and across from the fan. It was such a nice day, though some would call it too hot, Lucas for example was terrible in warm weather. There were countless times we'd have to leave somewhere because he'd get a heat stroke.

I didn't notice that I had spaced out until a familiar hand rapped my shoulder lightly. It was Xiang of course, but he seemed different, more tired actually. The two of us just stared at each other until he spoke up.

"Hey," He waved slightly at me, and I waved back.

"Hi again," He nodded and pulled out a small gold watch and clipped it on, guess he was bad at telling time.

"What can I get for you?" He asked and placed a hand on his hip with a slightly expectant look on his face.

"Water, please." I said hurriedly, just wanting him to stop staring. He nodded and walked off without another word. I watched him silently as he was absorbed into the clatter of Chinese. I would always remember watching him walk around the room, his arm supporting trays stacked high with food.

He had returned at this point and set the glass down lightly using his pinky as a support to set it down silently as well. This had made me jump slightly since I was distracted until now. Xiang hadn't stuck around long enough for me to say anything and had walked off again without saying anything.

I sighed and felt a light peck on my ear, I had totally forgotten about Mr. Puffin. He eyed me curiously before looking about on my shoulder when Xiang returned to my table. "So, you ready to order?" He said politely. It's that notebook again; I really don't know anyone who buys panda notebooks for a restaurant.

"Um, just vanilla ice cream," I said and handed the unused menu to him. It was a wonderful thing that there was a small whiteboard that held desserts. Xiang had returned a few minutes later and set the bowl on the table and pulled out a chair and sat across from me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, raising and eyebrow at the Asian. I glanced at the counter where the lady was and looked back at him. "Aren't you working?"

"Nah, my shift just ended. I'm sure Yao won't mind." He said absentmindedly and messed with an unused straw. I raised my other eyebrow.

"Yao?"

"My father/mother, he is working behind the counter right now." He pointed behind his shoulder at the woman who was a guy.

"Wait? That's a guy?" Okay, things are really weird lately. He started messing with the button on his sleeve and looked almost bored…almost.

"Yep, that happens often, so don't feel bad." He held a bemused expression, apparently this happened often.

"Oh," I said dumbly "Okay then." I said and shoveled another scoop of ice-cream into my mouth, my ears burning slightly.

"Cute bird," He said, staring pointedly at Mr. Puffin. As if on cue he jumped from my shoulder and onto my head, snuggling down on my white hair ruffling his feathers slightly and squawked at Xiang. I reached up with a small spoonful of ice-cream and held it to his beak and waited for him to eat off the spoon.

"His name is Mr. Puffin; my brother got him for me when I was six." When he pecked my hand I felt my eyebrow twitch and resisted the urge to shake my head to throw him off. He was such a bratty bird.

When I was six Lucas was always gone due to work and could hardly find anyone to look after me. So getting a puffin seemed like a good idea of company since the nanny's our parents hired to watch over us weren't really friendly. So I guess he was kind of old when I met Xiang. "So anyway, since you're here…what should I call you exactly, Xiang or Leon?"

"Xiang, Leon is just my English name since everyone on my white side of the family can't pronounce my real one correctly. What about you?"

"Emil, where exactly did you live before here may I ask?" Xiang rested his chin on his hands and watched the puffin on my head with interest.

"I was born in the richer part of Hong Kong but moved to London when I was ten when my grandparents found out that I was half English. Then later we moved here again for something better." I frowned slightly, why would someone be upset over who you were born too? It seemed strange to me at the time. "What about you?"  
"I was born in Iceland and my brother was born in Norway. I actually moved here a few years ago from Oslo when we had a bad incident with a nanny and stuff…" I trailed off, looking away. Xiang nodded and took a spoon from his side of the table and took a small scoop. "Hey, what are you doing? Mine." I said and moved my bowl holding it protectively, eating it furiously before he could take any more while getting a headache in the process. Xiang laughed slightly and ate the spoon of ice-cream.

"Xiáng, nǐ zài zuò shénme? Chī rénmín de shípǐn shì bùnéng jiēshòu de, ér bùshì jiànkāng de. Líkāi zhèlǐ, yīnwèi nǐ de zhuǎnbiàn shì!*" Shouted Yao, who was now walking up to the two of us not looking excited. Xiang took the spoon out of his mouth and stood up, taking off his apron.

"Hǎo ba, wǒ yào líkāile**." He replied and turned to me. "Later Emil." He said and walked out of the restauraunt not bothering to move out of the way and brushed on Yao's shoulder roughly. Yao sighed and watched him leave.

"I'm sorry about that aru, he's normally good." I just looked at him and set my bowl down, cheeks full of melting ice-cream.

"No, it's fine." I said once my mouth was clear, though Yao didn't seem to believe me and just walked off grumbling to himself. Mr. Puffin squawked and I resumed eating.

* * *

It was late when I got back home, I slipped inside the door and the lights where all off. I tiptoed down the hallway and up the stairs to my room with Mr. Puffin close to my chest. As I passed by Lucas's room I noticed it was closed, so he must be asleep since he never closes his door during the day.

Finally I collapsed onto my bed as Mr. Puffin flew over to his bed and was asleep in an instant. My mind was reeling over what happened during the day. So many thoughts where rushing through my head and didn't really notice when I had fallen asleep in my day clothes with my shoes on.

From that point on I would always go over to the White Lotus just to see Xiang.

* * *

**Blah. That took longer than I wanted to type up. I had it all written out but got distracted quite a bit due to me listening to France Gall. Anyway, the plot should start picking up from here. Please review to let me know what you think and correct any mistakes I made. And the chapter is longer! Not by much though, but this is okay since my chapter's are on the short side. ^-^;  
**

**Oh yes, kudos to the people who caught the Avatar reference in the restaurant name.  
**

**Translations: (Please forgive me, I used Google translate so don't chase after me with pickaxes if I mess it up.)  
**

** Xiang, what are you doing? Eating peoples food is unacceptable and not healthy. Get out of here since your shift is over!***

**Fine, I'm leaving anyway.****


	3. Chapter 3

Summer had ended before I knew it, and we had to replace tank tops and shorts with school uniforms and flip flops with loafers. It was the official start of our senior year, and I remember Lucas driving me to school on my first day, even though I could drive myself. I had only ridden with him to humor my brother.  
Inside there were no words being spoken, but the sound of my finger tapping on the windowsill seemed louder than thunder to my ears though Lucas didn't react to any sound I made. It was showery outside, and I remember faintly hearing the tedious taps of each single droplet keeping my mind from staying in the clouds. It was a nice morning, though I preferred the snow of my homeland.

"Another collage ad came in the mail for you again." Lucas said suddenly with no hint of interest in his voice. "I left it on your desk so you can look at it tomorrow, but I declined the writing university letter; you could do much better than that university." I turned sharply to face my brother, my heart pounding wildly.

"Why did you do that?!" I shouted angrily, the blood rushing to my ears. Lucas just turned his eyes and looked at me with those dull eyes that were now getting on my nerves. He didn't say anything and that was making me more irritated. "WHY?" I practically screamed at him for a reaction from him.

"I told you, you can do much better than a writing school. You need a degree for a good job." Lucas' eyes returned to the road and the school was in sight. My eyes had narrowed dangerously and I tried to stare a large hole into the side of his head that he ignored.

"Stop the car." I said, trying to keep my cool. Per usual, Lucas ignored me. "Stop. The. Car." Still nothing from him, "Now!" Lucas sighed and turned to park and watched as I pulled the hood of my jacket and stepped out of the car, slamming the door for good measure. I didn't stop to watch him stare at me sadly before driving off because I was already storming off the rest of the way to school. The blood was rushing in my ears and sounded like a roar in my head that didn't tone down even in the rain.

I had only calmed down until after I had entered my classroom and slumped into a seat that held my name card. "Whoa, rough morning?" Xiang's voice said from in front of me, I looked up and my mood lightened.

"Yeah, just a fight with my brother is all." Xiang nodded and sat down in the chair next to me. He then laid his head on my desk gazing out the window. I looked at the door as our homeroom teacher walked inside. He had wavy brown hair and green eyes and looked about Lucas's height. Despite the fact that he had a youthful face, he seemed older than that, wiser.

"My name is Toris Laurinaitis, but feel free to call me Toris and I'll be your homeroom teacher from now on." He said kindly, but I remembered that there was a hint of stress in his voice. "Please pull out your textbooks and turn to page 182, section three."

A few days had passed since my argument with Lucas, and we didn't talk much over those few days. I just spent most of my time in my room doing homework or just sitting staring out the window with Mr. Puffin making a lot of noise from across the room on his bed. It was Sunday when Xiang first texted me from a week of silence on both ends.

_Want to come over to my house? I know that you and your brother aren't talking and you seem bored._

I stared at the text for a few minutes, so he knew? I didn't have much to do so I replied.

_Yeah, be over in a few. _

* * *

Lucas hardly turned his head when I walked downstairs and put my shoes on at the foot of the stairs. Just as I reached the door he finally spoke. "Please be home before ten, I don't want you missing dinner." I just closed the door quietly behind me without saying a word, the remains of his gaze from the hallway still hitting the back of my head. It was the first word he spoke to me in almost two weeks.

The walk over to Xiang's house was uneventful, save for Tino and Berwald's dog getting out of their house and helping them chase him down. But other than that there wasn't much going on in his quiet neighborhood. I did stare at the door, wondering if I should ring the door or not. I finally did, and only waited about three seconds before the door was opened by a woman I've never seen before. The girl was a little older than I was with long brown hair with a long curl wearing pink clothes. She kind of looked like Xiang but she was very pretty. The girl smiled. "Hello, can I help you?" She asked in the same accent as Yao, so maybe they were related somehow?

"Um, I'm here to see Xiang." I said, looking over her shoulder as (speak of the devil) Xiang materialized behind the girl.

"Thanks Mei, I got it." He said and Mei stepped aside, a grin on her face as I walked past her. I followed Xiang in silence as he walked up the stairs.

"Who was that?" I asked he was probably dating her; it might be why I had never seen her. Figures that he would date someone, he has the charm. _Okay, hold up. Stop. _I scolded myself and returned to the real world.

"That was my older sister Mei, my family is in town so you'll be seeing some of my other family members." As if on cue a loud crash came from down the hall from Xiang's room followed by a loud laugh.

"Aiyah! Get out aru, both of you!" Yao yelled and the door opened, Arthur and another Asian with a similar curl to Mei's walked out of the room.

"But aniki!" The boy wined, and Yao kicked him.

"I said n- oh." He stopped when he saw the two of us staring at them. "Hello Emil aru, I haven't seen you around in a while. How is your brother?" He asked, and I just mumbled a "fine". The boy with the curl was instantly on me though.

"Hey Dong-saeng, who's this?" He asked excitedly, he was starting to remind me of Matthias.

"Emil, now leave us alone." Xiang said with a lot of irritation in his voice. The boy deflated quite a bit but didn't stop irritating people.

"I'm Yong Soo, nice to meet you. Dong-saeng has mentioned you a lot." I nodded embarrassedly and took a step away, and Xiang pulled me away from the crowd and into his room.

"Ah. Sorry about that." He said and kicked off his slippers to move his laptop off his bed to make more space. Xiang's room was different than my room, since it was slightly messy with tons of posters of Chinese movies and singers with the occasional calligraphy painting on the wall. He seemed to notice one that I was staring at and walked up to me. "That means love; I did that just before Arthur became my father for real. At that time I didn't know any English and still lived with my grandparents." I nodded and walked over and sat down in one of his chairs with a panda plushy on my lap.

"How long did you live with your grandparents?" I asked, worried that I was prying too much.

"I lived in China until was about ten. My grandparents are very traditional like Yao but he's loosened up over the years, so they were very strict about respect, order, and duty. I very much loved them, and they tried to take me away from Yao when they figured out who I was related to. I do write to them occasionally, to show my grades and how I'm doing." If Xiang was offended he didn't show it, but he seemed sad and was distant.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled, not knowing what I should say. Xiang just shrugged.

"Nah, I've gotten used to it. I have countless siblings that Yao has taken in over the years; I'm the only one that he's related to anyway. "Xiang's phone buzzed from his desk and he stood to go get it and wobbled a little and he quickly put a hand to his forehead. I reacted quicker than I thought I did and was steadying him before he could fall. "Sorry, stood up too fast." He mumbled and finished the way to his phone. I guess that's when things started changing.

* * *

I guess by the time it was Wednesday Lucas has gotten tired of our silent war and broke the silence. "Alright Emil, you win. I'm sorry." He mumbled, not looking up to see my face. This was new, since Lucas never apologizes once he knows he's right.

"What?" I said with a mouthful of food. Actually, I almost spit it out, but didn't since that would be a waste. Lucas rolled his eyes.

"I said I'm sorry." He said and looked at me, he wasn't joking. It really seemed like he was really sorry at the time, but I had never noticed it at all at that time. "I'll let the argument go," He passed me a box from across the table. "Take this to Tino when you finish."I took the box from Lucas and stood from the table, taking my jacket with me. "I'll go now." I mumbled and walked out of the house, Lucas not saying anything like usual.

Tino was one of our family members, but Lucas and I aren't really related to them. Tino is one of the people who helped raise me after my parents kind of left us alone, so he's kind of a second parent. He lived just down the street from us with his partner Berwald and Peter (who also wasn't related to any of us.). Like us, Tino and Berwald emigrated here from Sweden, but Tino is actually Finnish. I remember many days where all of us, Tino, Lucas, Matthias, Berwald, and I went over the street and had a family dinner. I remember that we had all switched off to Swedish except for me since I was way too young to speak more than one language at once; I always had to be spoken to in English.

I gently opened the door to his house, peaking inside. "Anteeksi…" I called out to the house and sudden barking came from under me. I looked to see the small fluffy white dog, Hana-Tamago, try to jump up my legs. "Hey buddy." I said and petted his head affectionately.

"Ah, tervetuloa!" Tino said from across the room and I had jumped slightly. He seemed older than the last time I saw him, and he looked tired. He walked up to me and greeted me with a hug I almost refused.

"Hey…Um, Lucas wanted me to give this to you."I said and handed him the box which made the Finnish man brighten.

"Oh, give him my thanks." He looked at the box and then back to me. "I just made a batch of cookies, would you like to have a few? Peter and Berwald are out watching a basketball game so we have a few hours."

* * *

Before I knew it, several hours had passed, and I had told Tino everything about what was happening lately. Mostly though of what happened between me and Lucas. Tino put a hand on his chin and thought. "Lucas is very careful about what happens, he's very protective," Gee, I already knew that. "He's just looking out for you Emil; he cares very much for you and wants you to have a stable and happy life.

I snorted and put my chin on my hand. "Doesn't seem like it." Tino laughed and patted my shoulder.

"Anyway, it's starting to get late and you probably have homework don't you?" I mumbled in agreement and looked away from him. He stood up and put the plates in the sink rather harshly. I remember that he had a pained expression and rubbed his wrists mumbling to himself.

"Are you okay Tino?" I asked warily and he didn't look at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just..." He trailed off as the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. "I guess Berwald and Peter are home, better put some dinner in the microwave. Tell Lucas I said thanks okay?" He mumbled as he was putting food on a plate and into the microwave.

"Yeah, later..." I said, though he really didn't seem to hear me, but if he did he didn't say anything. I slid out the back door quietly so that I wouldn't have to talk to Berwald or Peter for who knows how long. The sun had set already and the first street lamps were lighting when I got back home and Lucas was sitting in the family room with the TV on to some variety show I never remembered the name too. I walked to the couch and sat next to him and neither of us said anything for a while until the commercials came on. "

"Tino says thanks." I mumbled and he looked at me and nodded for a second before returning to the TV. I continued to sit there awkwardly not daring to look at him. "Um…So…about that university letter…do you still have it?" Lucas reached across the couch and took a stack of mail from the table beside the couch and handed it to me without a word.

I shuffled through the papers until the collage that I wanted came up. So he really did keep the application. I stifled a smile and set the papers aside and stared at the one until Lucas spoke up. "Older brother." He said indifferently and I looked at him.

"No."  
"No." He repeated after me. So he was copying me now?  
"Stop copying me." I said angrily at this point.

"Stop copying me." He said in the same neutral voice and my temper flared. We remained in silence for a while before he turned to me and said.

"Want watermelon brother?" He said and I hadn't been paying attention at the time so I replied,

"Want watermelon brother?" I blinked after I said that and my face turned red as Lucas almost grinned in victory. I hid my face in a pillow making inhuman noises as Lucas just laughed at me.

He really is a pain, my brother.

* * *

**Oookay. I finally finished this chapter. Took me long enough.**

**You know what irritates me? When people put in their descriptions as rated T because I'm paranoid. It drives me nuts! But that's just me and you can ignore that. Anyway, I gave ya a bit of Finland due to me role playing as Finland for about a month now so I figured.**

**For the scene at the end, that was inspired by a picture I found on Zerochan so I don't own that. I just really wanted to put that in for the heck of it. For the car ride at the first scene, I can see Iceland being and author and he is hot-blooded but you never really see this in the fanfiction much. So sorry if they seem out of character and just me making things up as I go along. Just like Hong Kong's past /shot.  
**

**Translations:**

**Anteeksi: Excuse me  
**

**Tervetuloa: Welcome  
**

**Anyway, thanks to all my lovely readers and hopefully I can get something new out soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

One of the strangest things happened just a few days after talk with Tino was that Xiang didn't go to school. He was normally the kind to get there just in the nick of time or just a little late but he didn't show up even after Toris took attendance. In all it had made the class seem lonelier and me even more distant. All my life I had never been really good at making friends and by the time I had worked up the courage to talk to someone the clicks had already been made and I was alone again.

From beside me Lilli-the girl whose brother everyone was scared of- pulled out Xiang's chair and sat down. She was a pretty girl, and her hair fell perfectly around her delicate face. I'd once thought of asking her out but one look at her brother sent me running. From her petite hands she held a small notebook, the one she used for the journaling club.

"Good morning Emil," She said with her usual smile. "It's a lovely day isn't it?" She asked and I had no trouble returning the smile.

"Alright, kind of quiet today though." I replied blankly looking out the window.

"Because Xiang isn't here," She paused for a second and held the pen to her lips. "It has become quieter; he usually has some kind of prank going on." Xiang was as someone these days was called a prankster, and I had often come to the restaurant finding Yao yell at Xiang for something he did. Swinging a leg over the other, I leaned in closer to Lili.

"So what's up?" I asked and she brightened a little and flipped open her notebook.

"I'm doing a piece for the newspaper and you have the top grades in our grade level so I was asked to do an interview with you." An interview was new, and what else was I supposed to do?

"Alright, throw some questions out there." I joked, hopefully trying to look light when in reality I hadn't slept in a while due to intensive studying. Lili laughed anyway, and I never could tell if she meant it or if she was being polite.

* * *

About lunch Xiang made his grand appearance when lunch was halfway over. I as usual was reading at my desk, lunch already eaten, enjoying my solitude. He sat there blankly, which wasn't something new, staring at me until I began to itch. "Where were you?" I asked, amazed that he was even at school today.

"What are you reading?" He asked, ignoring my question.

I flipped the cover to look at it before answering. "The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley, have you read it?" Xiang shook his head and took the book from my hands to read the back. "So, where were you all day?" I asked again, hoping to get some answers from him.

"Interesting, I'll have to borrow this from you sometime." I shook my head as he gave it back.

"Sorry, it's my friend's book; you'll have to ask him." Xiang sighed in mock defeat.

"Whatever," He trailed off for a minute. "I was at the doctor's office getting something checked. I'll be going in again the other day." He said and pulled a small sandwich that had what looked like garlic in it.

"Is is that garlic?" I asked and Xiang crinkled his nose and set the sandwich back down.

"Yes, that's what happens when you let Arthur cook." He replied incredulously with a slight look of disgust on his face. "Hey, come over to my house after school. I have something to show you."

"Today? I have studying to do." I replied when actually it would be another get together of half the neighborhood Scandinavians. I was required to go but in reality I didn't want to go.

"Please, studying can wait a day." He stood up and leaned on my desk. "It's decided, you're eating dinner with my family.

How I really wished that I didn't go that day.

* * *

Trying to fit all six of Xiang's family into one small table was no easy fit, and then there was me. Yao actually had to go downstairs and take a chair from the restaurant and smushed everyone together so we'd all fit. I was wedged between Xiang and Kiku; who actually didn't live with Xiang; he was a college student and happened to be visiting. We had been in Xiang's room for a few minutes until Arthur got us to eat. Dinner was even stranger, there was a large assortment of foods that I'd never seen before and each of us had a bowl of rice to go with the meal and a pair of chopsticks. Xiang looked over at me and pointed out several of the foods.

"That one right there is Udon, that is Kimchi, that is Tempura, and that right there is tomato soup." I looked at Xiang, looking panicked.

"Do I just take some?" I asked and he nodded, scooping some of the Kimchi into my plate. The next challenge was the chopsticks, aside from the occasional Chinese New Year's day in elementary school I'd never touched them and thus, struggled. Arthur from beside Yao sighed.

"Xiang, go get him a fork." Xiang nodded and within a few minutes I was eating normally and trying to join the conversation going on only to realize that I didn't understand a word they were saying. Now, there's a fine line between confused and actually not understanding what they are saying and I was the second one. Kiku caught my look and leaned closer to my ear.

"They are talking about classic novels, just meantion a book you like and they'll switch to English for you." He said quietly. "We don't often have English speakers aside from Arthur here but he speaks some amount of Chinese." I looked at him for a minute.

"Are you also Chinese?"  
"No, I am from Japan, Yong Soo is from Korea and Mei is from Taiwan. Xiang and Yao are the only ones who are from China." I nodded with several pieces of Kimchi handing out of my mouth.

"Do you speak Chinese?"

"Enough." He said plainly and dumped a bunch of salt on his food. Yao seemed to react at once.

"Aiyah that is too much salt aru" He snapped and took the salt shaker from him, setting it next to Mei. And when Yao wasn't looking she gave it back to him. "So Emil, do you have a favorite book?" He asked, causing me to think.

"Angels of the Universe Enar Már Gudmundsson," Arthur sucked in a breath.

"_That _is a good book, dark though. I didn't know you were into those things." I only shrugged and Mei popped in.

"I like To Kill a Mockingbird, it's very interesting." She said jabbed at Yong Soo when he got too close to her. I only heard part of the conversation when my phone buzzed, it was Lukas. I scowled and hung up the phone without answering; sure he'd give me an earful and stood from the table.

"I'd better get going; Lukas just called probably wondering where I am." There was mixed reactions and Yao stood up.  
"I can drive you home aru." I nodded and pulled on my jacket, waving slightly at Xiang and followed the Chinese man out of the room and through the restaurant and to the only parked car in the parking lot. Their car was an old Honda, and it was an ugly shade of green and the paint was chipped in places. "It's a little old but she works well, can you drive Emil?" Yao asked and I shrugged, Lukas was way too stubborn to let me drive, but what he didn't know was that Pop's- Sadiq- had let me drive around in his car all during the summer and I was pretty good at it.

The ride itself was pretty uneventful and quiet with only the streetlights and the occasional car lighting our faces and neither of us said anything. Yao had the radio and from under the sound of the car Frank Sinatra was floating around my head giving me a slight headache. From my pocket my phone buzzed again, and this time it wasn't Lukas but Tino. I sighed and clicked "call" and held it to my ear. "Hello?" I said and jumped at the sound of him being frantic.

"Emil? Where are you? We've been calling your house for two hours." I frowned, Tino was normally very calm and yet here he was practically yelling into the phone.

"Sorry…?" I replied, not sure if he was scolding me or not from the tone in his voice.

"You're home right? Ber is coming to get you right now so don't go anywhere."  
"Why?" Tino was silent for a full two minutes before replying.

"Lukas got into an accident; he was leaving work to pick you up." I hung up the phone, hardly hearing anything past "got into an accident" and let my hand drop to my lap. Yao looked at me slightly worried as he turned off the car.

"Emil, are you alright?" He asked and turned his body to face me fully. "You look like you're going to be sick." I only shook my head and got out of the car.

"I'm fine, thanks for driving me home." I said and walked into the house, stumbling with my keys before entering the house. As if on cue Mr. Puffin flew onto my shoulder, snapping at my ears demanding to be fed. I didn't bother turning on the lights as I wandered the house feeding the bird a piece of bread waiting for Berwald to get here.

I waited for what seemed like hours until I heard the sound of him driving up and didn't wait for him to get out of the car and he didn't wait for me to buckle my seatbelt to start driving. I couldn't read his face, like usual, but I waited anyway for him to start scolding me on not answering my phone. The drive was fairly short since we lived close to the hospital. I was corralled in while Mr. Puffin stayed in the car sleeping.

* * *

I always hated hospitals, and this visit gave me yet another reason to hate it. It bothered me how clean it was and I would hate going near it for years to come. And I only knew where I was going by the sound of Matthias's voice. He was yelling at the doctor's for not being able to see him, and the doctor's only shook their heads. Berwald pushed me forward and I nearly crumbled under the doctor's scrutinizing stare. "I'm his brother, can I see him?" The doctor sighed and let me in, following closely behind while a nurse kept Matthias from sneaking in.

"He only has a few lacerations and a broken leg so he'll be fine and will be able to leave as soon as someone signs out for him." He doctor stepped aside and Lukas was in view sleeping on the hospital bed. "His car wasn't in very good shape but he'll live, and will wake up in an hour from the medications."

"When can I sign him out?" I asked and the doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Well, come down to the front desk when he wakes up and you can sign him out then." He said and Lukas snorted from the bed.

"I'm already awake." The doctor chuckled as a nurse wheeled in a wheelchair, situating him and I hardly listened to what the doctor was saying about medication. I was only weirded out by the fact that Lukas was laughing about something that was going on. He was still laughing when I pushed him out of the room, causing Matthias to frown.

"What's up with Luke? Is this the right Lukas?" he asked the doctor who only laughed with a nod.

"It's me Densen, I feel great though." He mumbled sounding tired, but everyone else seemed pleased. The entire time we were there and the entire drive home I was waiting for them to ask me where I was, but they never did.

* * *

**Wow, it's been a while since I've updated this story. Sorry about that.  
**

**I've had the idea of Lukas getting in an accident for a while now, and wasn't really planning on it to happen this soon but I'm pretty happy with how this chapter came to be. Excuse my lame attempts to use conversation.**

**Well, lemme know how you guys think about this chapter and please submit it in a review please, they make me very happy and giddy inside. Thanks as always for reading!**


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